Cool - thanks! I think I can easily do that. When you do the protein shake - what do you use? I had one friend that mixes berries, milk and whey protein. Do you have a favorite mixture?

Usually post workout I just do chocolate whey w/1%milk. My favorite though is one I do for breakfast sometimes.
1 cup milk
1/2 banana
a few frozen strawberries
1 scoop choc. whey
2 tbs. natural peanut butter
1 block of shaved dark chocolate
You can add ice if you want it a little more like a milk shake. I also throw maybe a quarter cup of quick oats in sometimes.

Usually with the choc. whey I stick with things like strawberries, bananas, peanut butter and raspberries. If you get vanilla whey then I will use more berries and yogurt. They make other flavors like cookies n cream, strawberry, carmel. I have never tried those though. I get the walmart cheap stuff and stick to chocolate and vanilla.

Okay - I know I'm probably over-thinking this and making it more complicated then it should be but here goes:

Here's what I've had so far today:

Eggs (2)
Smart Ones Thai Chicken & Rice Noodles
Raw Unsalted Mixed Nuts
Vanilla Yogurt
Totals: Cal: 699 Fat: 34.1 Fiber: 4 Carbs: 85.2 Protein: 41.6

Planning to add grilled chicken & baked beans for dinner tonight:

Total: Cal: 1019 Fat: 40.1 Fiber: 9 Carbs: 114.2 Protein: 65.6

So as you can see I will still need to add about 35 grams of protein and still try to stay at 1300 calories. Any suggestions of what else I should add today to accomplish that? Is this when I need to have a protein shake?

You have about 300 calories to work with. 35 grams of protein is approx. 140 calories. So be creative. You don't NEED a shake at this point. It would make it easy but certainly not necessary.

You could do something like a whole wheat wrap (I think they have low calorie ones) with chicken, spinach leafs, etc.

The possibilities are seriously endless.

haha - I think the problem is I'm trying to be TOO creative! Guess I could just eat more of the grilled chicken tonight!

I've just never really thought that much about protein - I've counted fat, calories and carbs til I'm blue in the face - but protein - well that's a new one for me to get a grasp on!

Funny huh. People are so carb and fat conscious simply b/c of the phobic pushes the media makes with regards to the two. It leaves people not knowing the important stuff, unfortunately.

I used to be creative and I think for most, creativity is good. It keeps them content.

Me though.... I pick a few meats at the beginning of each week and cook them twice per week. I do some seasoning and love hot sauce. But that's the extent of my creativity. Chicken is always in there, every day. I love chicken. Everything else is a wild card. Some weeks it's pork tenderloin, others it's flank or top round steaks, others it's ground beef, others it's fish, sometimes turkey.... it goes on and on. I try different marinades at times too which keeps me psychologically happy.

I also like to keep whey in house so on those occasions that I run out of meat or am too lazy to cook/eat meat I can still get my protein in.

Yeah it worked!!!

I kept my calories the same (around 1300 a day), but I decreased my carbs slightly and increased my protein to around 100 grams a day (previously I was averaging about 50 grams). I also doubled my cardio and did weight training and cardio on alternate days (simply so I could spend the same amount of time in the gym but still increase cardio).

So - today I finally decided to weigh and measure and I've lost 2 lbs., 1" on my hips and 1/2" on my waist - oh yes and 1" off my chest but a sacrafice I'm willing to make

All this in less then a week with some very minor changes! THANKS STEVE!!!!

Good stuff! Glad to hear things are heading in the right direction. Always keep in mind that it's not a linear process, this fat loss thing. Especially when you don't have all that much fat to lose.

I read through the whole thread! Thank You very much Steve! I never ask or say anything to you because you seem to be bombarded by people doing the same thing, but I just wanted to say, it helps! The body is SOOOO confusing to me, but with time and knowledge,.....I'm getting there! Thanks!

1. You're welcome.

2. Thanks.

3. Don't ever hesitate asking me questions. That's why I come here. I enjoy discussing this. This isn't my job, lol.

Well...I'm glad to hear that....!!!!

One question.....after reading through this entire thread this one question still remained in my head:

How many days after you start eating the appropriate amount of calories does your body recognize that the shift in caloric intake has taken place?

I hope I worded that well.....

As with most questions looking for a specific answer in the weight loss realm, it depends.

lol

Genetics, sex, age, diet history, etc all play a role.

Put it this way though. You're body 'realizes' you're eating more calories pretty much immediately.

LOL!!! GOT IT!!! .....that makes me feel better to know it happens right away........

Just make sure you're not confused about what "it happens" means.

If you've been severely depriving yourself for a long, long time, calorically speaking, I'd gradually bump intake up towards maintenance over the course of a couple weeks. Once at maintenance, park there for a bit to let things settle before breaking back into a deficit.

That said, when I'm dieting, just to let you know how acute it will be, I do what is known as refeeds once per week for multiple reasons... one being metabolic rate.

Again, it all depends.

What you say, makes sense, to me mentally....but another question.....

If you haven't been taking in enough caloric intake, and you gradually increase it back by "re feeding"....is it possible for the body to gain a considerable amount of weight while doing that, since you hadn't been eating sufficient amounts before? Or is it like it was stated a couple pages back, that you WILL gain, yet not a lot, and then continue losing again?